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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

True Meaning of Success

It is a story of grit and perseverance. It is the story of Rosdi Osman, a simple mechanic in the town of Kota Bahru in Kelantan. What is amazing about him is that he is a paraplegic and has to move around in a wheelchair. Rosdi was involved in an accident about 14 years ago whilst working as a mechanic for a bus company. He was under a bus adjusting the jack when the bus slipped and fell on top of him. As a result, he had to spend almost six months in hospital. As he recalled “It was painful, but not as painful as when the doctor told me that I was paralyzed and would never be able to walk again.” Initially, he repaired bicycles and motor bikes in his neighborhood. Later on, neighbors even brought cars for him to repair. When the response became overwhelming, he decided to open up his own business. Today, he is the proud owner of a successful mechanic workshop and as he says “business is good”.

What is even more amazing about him is that he also represents Kelantan in tennis in the annual paraplegic games in Malaysia and runs motivational workshops for teenagers in his neighborhood. Rosdi Osman is an incredible human being. He has all the reasons to be bitter and resentful for what took place in his life and yet it is the other way around: he is thankful for what he has and quietly goes about living a very fulfilling life. He may not have legs but he definitely has many things that we can only dream of i.e. strength of character and self motivation. He is truly an inspiration to anyone who needs to gain perspective on their current life situation.

Some lessons we can learn from Rosdi Osman are as follows:

- Life is never fair. Learn to accept this and get on with life rather than moaning and groaning about all our shortcomings.

- It is not what you have that is important; it is how you use what you have that is even more important. We all have our ‘disabilities’ but what we can all do is to focus and reinforce our strengths.

- Forget the past, the future is more important. Many people go through life re-living the past and having regrets rather than focusing on the future. Imagine what would happen if you are driving on a highway and you look backwards instead of forwards.

- Success is not measured by how much money you have, your house or your car. It is about being able to achieve your full potential in life. Based on that criteria, Rosdi Osman is most certainly a very successful person.